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Game thread - KANSAS v BYU SAT JAN 31 3:30 PM CT ESPN

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HawkErrant
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b82, g84 Lift the chorus...

1 month 2 weeks ago - 1 month 2 weeks ago #34434 by HawkErrant

3:00 PM CT listen to the pregame show on the Jayhawk Radio Network courtesy of the KU Athletics leanplayer app!

(Borrowing a tune from a song whose setting is a port on a western bay...)

KANSAS plays on Saturday.
The BYU Cougars come to play.
KU fans come from all around
to see KU throw down.

A place in the conference race
is the prize they play for on this winter’s day.
The winner keeps on course to play
for the regular season crown.

THE PHOG fans say KANSAS you’re a fine team
Conference champions you could be.
If you win all the games left to you, you can be.

it's another KANSAS JAYHAWKS...

... Buh duh ^DUH duh ^{DUH DUH} duh duh _{duh duh} DUH DUH ^DUH... BALL DAY!!

Saturday at 3:30 PM CT on ESPN our AP14 KANSAS JAYHAWKS (15-5/5-2) face the AP13 Cougars of BYU (17-5/5-2) as KANSAS hosts ESPN’s COLLEGE GAME DAY joining in the celebration of the 1,000th game played in the hallowed halls of The Cradle of College Basketball, Allen Fieldhouse!

KU is 877-122 all-time in THE PHOG, including 340-22 under head coach Bill Self.

The Jayhawks are 4-3 against BYU, with the Cougars having won the last two meetings. KANSAS has won it’s last 4 games and BYU has lost 2 of its last 3, highlighted by losing at home to AP1 and Big 12 Conference leader Arizona.

Notch 5 in a row and win PHOG GAME 1000, JAYHAWKS!

ESPN's Matchup Predictor favors KANSAS to win 62.5% of the time (link). The spread is 4.5 point in KU’s favor.

asteroid had not posted his predictions for this game at post time. However, his Big XII Projection Round 8 post projects a 81-77 win for KANSAS!

CorpusJayhawk has posted his Rock Chalk Challenge newsletter with the predictions for this game (and again soooo much more), projecting a 63.3% chance of a KU win! (link) (Sure hope he is right!)

Here's some more links to make you think...
KUAthletics.com: No. 14 KANSAS plays host to No. 13 BYU Saturday
KUAthletics.com: KANSAS v BYU Game Notes

Get 'er done, Jayhawks!

AY2025-26 BYU Cougars MEN'S BASKETBALL ROSTER per ESPN.com

Kevin Young  	Head Coach
#  NAME			POS 	HT	WT	CLASS	BIRTHPLACE
1  Robert Wright III	G	6' 1"	183 lbs	SO	Wilmington, DE
2  Tyler Mrus		F	6' 7"	205 lbs	JR	Bothell, WA
3  AJ Dybantsa		F	6' 9"	--	FR	Brockton, MA
4  Brody Kozlowski	F	6' 8"	--	SO	Draper, UT
5  Mihailo Bošković	F	6' 10"	--	SR	Uzice, Serbia
6  Aleksej Kostić	G	6' 4"	--	FR	Pfaffstätten, Austria
7  Khadim Mboup		F	6' 9"	--	FR	Dakar, Senegal
12 Nate Pickens		G	6' 3"	--	SR	El Mirage, AZ
13 Keba Keita		F	6' 8"	231 lbs	SR	Bamako, Mali
15 Richie Saunders	G	6' 5"	200 lbs	SR	Riverton, UT
24 Dominique Diomande	F	6' 7"	190 lbs	FR	Paris, France
25 Dawson Baker		G	6' 4"	190 lbs	SR	Coto De Caza, CA
30 Kennard Davis Jr.	F	6' 6"	215 lbs	JR	St. Louis, MO
33 Xavion Staton	C	6' 11"	--	FR	Las Vegas, NV
34 Abdullah Ahmed	C	6' 10"	220 lbs	SO	Cairo, Egypt
51 Jared McGregor	G	6' 3"	180 lbs	SR	Saratoga Springs, UT
-- KJ Perry		G	6' 3"	180 lbs	FR	--

AY2025-26 KANSAS JAYHAWKS MEN'S BASKETBALL ROSTER

#  NAME			POS  HT / WT  CLASS HOME
0  Nginyu Ngala#	G    5-10/180 Gr    Montreal, QC Canada
1  Jayden Dawson#	G    6-4/195  Sr    Omaha NE		
3  Tre White#     	G    6-7/205  Sr    Dallas TX		  
6  Samis Calderon	F    6-8/200  Fr    Espirito Santo Brazil
7  Kohl Rosario		G    6-5/185  Fr    Miami FL
11 Jamari McDowell	SG   6-4/180  So*   Manvel TX
12 Wilder Evers$	G    6-4/195  Jr*   Birmingham AL
13 Elmarko Jackson	PG   6-3/195  So*   South Kent CT
14 Melvin Council Jr#	G    6-4/185  Sr    Rochester NY
15 Bryson Tiller	F    6-10/240 Fr*   Atlanta GA
21 Will Thengvall$	G    6-3/185  So    Wichita KS
22 Darryn Peterson	G    6-5/195  Fr    Canton OH 	Game day decision
25 Justin Cross$	F    6-8/200  Sr*   South Kent CT
34 Paul Mbiya		C    6-11/260 Fr    Dem Rep Congo
40 Flory Bidunga	C    6-9/220  So    Dem Rep Congo
REDSHIRT THIS YEAR
2  Corbin Allen	        G    6-6/185  Fr~   Kansas City MO

LEGEND
$ Walk on (grandfathered in, so don't count against roster limits; no new W in the future under current guidelines)
~ Redshirting this season
* Past Redshirt
# Transfer with 1 year to play

INJURY REPORT

KANSAS: no one
BYU: 
Player		POS	Status			Date	
X. Staton	C	Out - Undisclosed	Jan 12, '26	
D. Baker	G	Out - Knee		Nov 30, '25	
N. Pickens	G	Out - Undisclosed	Nov 07, '25	
B. Kozlowski	F	Out - Redshirt		Nov 02, '2
K. Perry	G	Out - Redshirt		Jan 01, '26

LET'S GO JAYHAWKS!

ROCK CHALK!

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime." - Mark Twain "Innocents Abroad"

Last Edit: 1 month 2 weeks ago by HawkErrant.

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hairyhawk
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1 month 2 weeks ago #34439 by hairyhawk

What a game. only 6 turnovers and 5 of them were Tre White. I thought he was trying a bit too hard when KU needed a spark on offense. He was still 2 of 3 from beyond the arc.

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Bayhawk
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1 month 2 weeks ago #34441 by Bayhawk

Preach Hairy!

RCJHFL

The end is nothing; the road is all.
-- Jules Michelet

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konza63
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c'85 Towering toward the Blue

1 month 2 weeks ago #34442 by konza63

Bottom lines on the day:

Our venue, the greatest in all of college ball, was on vibrant national display.

With our full “ceiling” team in (first half), we absolutely obliterated a Top 15 team with a Top 2 draft pick. (Who we completely held in check)

BYU is a great comeback team, but in gut check time our non-DP/non-EJ squad nutted up and salted the win.

And all of it went down in front of a bunch of proud player alumni and the top player recruit in the land, who had to be impressed by the energy, atmosphere, and team performance.

We’re now tied for 3rd in the league, and soon we get (likely undefeated and #1 Zona) in our barn.

Yes, the DP cramping saga remains a concern. And yes, TT will be loaded for bear against us Monday night after losing on the road to pesky UCF. But I’ll take this great win in the Barn’s 1,000th game and relish it.

Rock Chalk.

“With kindest regards to Dr. Forrest C. Allen, the father of basketball coaching, from the father of the game.”

1936 inscription on the portrait of Dr. Naismith, displayed above Phog Allen's office desk at KU.

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HawkErrant
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b82, g84 Lift the chorus...

1 month 2 weeks ago - 1 month 2 weeks ago #34444 by HawkErrant

For those who wondered,
Peterson out H2 was indeed the cramps again (as konza63 noted)
Jackson tweaked his knee, but no serious damage, sat as a caution.

Game 1000 for KU Men's Basketball in THE PHOG.
878-122 KU MBB all time in AFH
341-22 under Bill Self.

As konza63 mentioned, KU travels to Lubbock for Big Monday on ESPN.

Hopefully DP and EJ will be ready to go, they are certainly needed.

IF THEY ARE NOT, Self has no bench with Jamari stepping in to start.

Jayden Dawson needs more time than the 5 minutes he gave KU guards for breathers in H2.

And Bill has to try someone else as that 7th guy off the bench.

Kohl Rosario is perhaps the best defensive replacement, but he has been a definite liability on the offense.

No one else has really played that well, and lately not at all as HCBS has gone to a 7 man rotation for recent games.

Nginyu Ngala, Paul Mbiya and Samis Calderon may yet be difference makers this season, but we have yet to see it.

It's looking more and more like a Bette Davis "fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night" kind of season.

Last Edit: 1 month 2 weeks ago by HawkErrant.

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Riverhawk
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1 month 2 weeks ago #34446 by Riverhawk

Great fun to watch KU bball again! Absolutely love watching Council play, and Tiller is coming on strong. But...Self has fallen into his yearly habit of just playing 7 guys to death. With DP and Elmarko out, the guys were gassed, and had to really hang on. Good luck Monday with a tired team and perhaps those two questionable. Out of the guys you mentioned...Dawson, Rosario, Calderon, there is no one who can give a few decent minutes just to spell the starters? They might not be able to now because they've been buried on the bench. Self was kind of forced to play McDowell, and he has played really well. And I still believe this team, as good as the starters are, needs one more big man to eat up some minutes and give Flory and Tiller some rest. I know Mbiya is raw, but a couple of minutes? As great as he is, Self imo boxes himself in at times by not utilizing his bench.

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konza63
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c'85 Towering toward the Blue

1 month 2 weeks ago #34447 by konza63

In recent games, the lone guy (after our core 7) getting a few minutes of run - including in the K-State game - has been Dawson. So I suspect it will be him getting a few minutes, as needed, to spell folks.

Rosario seemingly has played his way out of PT, proving incapable of hitting 3s (his key offensive weapon, purportedly, coming in) beyond a dismal clip. The sad thing is he seems to guard well, plays with very high energy, and does have the ability to drive and dunk - but to his detriment fell back on shooting errant wide-open 3s when he was still getting run...and then got benched.

Good point re: Flory and Bry getting spelled now and then, though it's worth noting that Self's approach to spelling them has been to employ a smaller lineup rather than insert Paul. Paul seems to be an emergency or contingency fallback player in Self's eyes, when either of our bigs gets into major foul trouble and we are facing a major size challenge in the foe.

Like it or not, this is Self's track record: if the horses aren't performing up to a certain standard (which Dawson, Rosario, Calderon, and Mbiya have not, in his eyes - though he appears to still have some faith in Dawson for spot minutes and Paul in a crunch), he will run with 7. It worked for him in 2022 with the NC squad, with Remy and Mitch being the guys off the bench. (A young KJ also got some in-season minutes, and even had a couple in the NC game vs. UNC, but it was mainly a 7-player rotation that got us over the finish line to the pinnacle that year - as one prominent example)

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Riverhawk
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1 month 2 weeks ago #34458 by Riverhawk

Yes, well aware of the history. 2022 was a very happy outlier in many ways, and cemented Self's legacy. I still think he makes a mistake trimming down to seven. Plenty of examples, but I don't have the interest to cite them(goes all the way back to playing Aaron Miles to death, tho). If they had lost the game Saturday, which seemed like a real possibility after BYU cut it to four, his guys being gassed would have been the reason. Council, who is terrific, saved KU and him.

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konza63
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c'85 Towering toward the Blue

1 month 2 weeks ago #34460 by konza63

For sure on your closing. Though there would be an asterisk on the thesis about 7 because we actually didn’t have the rotational 7 available as 2 guys were literally out for the 2nd half (Elmarko fully, DP for 4/5 of it).

I *do* hope Mbiya and one of either Dawson or Rosario get more minutes and developmental experience going forward, so we have them in crunches for the postseason, but with so many Top 15 foes and tight games coming up, the best we can hope for may be to see them play a few possessions against the likes of Utah, etc.

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